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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Just a very quick post - as I am in the middle of finals studying, and must stay focused on that till Thursday - but I could not pass this up.(Though it does feel good to actually be blogging for a change).

As most of my readers probably know, the Republicans gay organization GOProud is receiving quite a bit of flack because of their "outing" of a top Rick Perry candidate. According to GOProud, they were not aware that the consultant in question - Tony Fabrizio - was closeted, and that it was assumed that his sexual orientation was well known,

“From the time this organization was founded we have been clear in our opposition to outing. We would never intentionally out anyone. However, in the case of Tony Fabrizio, top pollster and chief strategist for the Presidential campaign of Texas Governor Rick Perry, we did not believe there was any question about his sexual orientation – nor did the reporters who called us to ask about his involvement in Perry’s anti-gay campaign strategy. Questions about an individual’s sexual orientation should obviously be answered by that individual.

“Let us be crystal clear, however, Tony Fabrizio is not the victim here. Tony Fabrizio has lined his pockets for years with money from gay groups and is now one of the chief architects of a campaign strategy – not just an isolated television ad - intended to demonize gay people in order to score political points. Fabrizio claims he opposed the latest anti-gay Perry television ad. If Fabrizio really does oppose the ad and the broader strategy then the honorable and decent thing to do would be to resign from the campaign. Tony Fabrizio is no junior staffer he is one of the top campaign pollsters and strategists in the country.

In further interviews and conversations with the LGBT media figures like Michelangelo Signorile, GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia, asserts that the reason why the Perry campaign was specifically targeted was because anti-gay sentiment became the "the centerpiece strategy of the campaign."

So, as long as anti-gay sentiment is just a plank in any particular candidates campaign - whether that be the failed campaign of Herman Cain (which GOProud supported till the end), Michelle Bachman (which GOProud has stated they would support if she became theRepublican candidate), Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney - they are not going to be the target of GOProud's malice...yet once anti-gay hysteria becomes a central campaign issue then they are worthy of being called out?

When will GOProud realize that what Perry did in his campaign ad is just as wrong as Herman Cain asserting that people "choose" to be gay? When will they realize that every time a major candidate talks about the necessity of keeping marriage between one man and one woman, they are reinforcing the stereotype that LGBT people are "less than" their heterosexual counterparts. Just because such a mentality is not a "central" part of a campaign does not make it any less damaging.

If GOProud wants to regain any form of legitimacy that they might have had, they must dispense with the hypocrisy of pointing out LGBT individuals who "line their pockets with checks from homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus" while at the same time engaging in similar activities. Instead of saying nothing or hardly making a stir when candidates espouses harmful rhetoric against our community, they must speak out forcefully and passionately against such harassment. As long as they support in word and deed politicians who will "throw our community under the bus", they are no better than Tony Fabrizio.